[111.03] Studying Active Galactic Nuclei with SNAP

P.S. Osmer (OSU), P.B. Hall (Princeton/Catolica)

The proposed SuperNova/Acceleration Probe (SNAP) offers the
chance to study thousands of active galactic nuclei (AGN)
just in its primary imaging of 20 square degrees of sky to a
coadded AB=32. Time sampling of every two days or better for
1.5 years will yield the largest sample to date of
variability-selected AGN. Any AGN not sufficiently variable
for detection on the observed timescales can be found at
bright magnitudes via comparision with ground-based surveys
and at faint magnitudes by fitting models including nuclear
point sources to the observed galaxy light profiles. This
AGN sample from the primary SNAP imaging area will be large
enough to study variability as a function of luminosity and
many other parameters down to an absolute B magnitude of -16
at least. It will also yield the bivariate AGN / host galaxy
luminosity function as a function of redshift to z=1.7.
Dense time sampling of so many AGN may also allow the
detection of strong flaring events, such as might be
produced by the tidal disruption of a star by a